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1 https://wordpress.org/?v=5.2.177705806Camera Shootout: Lumia 950 vs LG V10https://www.onetechstop.net/2015/12/22/camera-shootout-lumia-950-vs-lg-v10/
https://www.onetechstop.net/2015/12/22/camera-shootout-lumia-950-vs-lg-v10/#commentsWed, 23 Dec 2015 02:38:00 +0000http://www.onetechstop.net/?p=19908 Smartphone cameras have been getting more and more powerful over the past few years, and the 2015 flagships are largely similar in terms of camera quality. Of course, what makes a great photo isn’t just about the megapixels, but also the sensor size, the aperture, processing algorithms and many other factors. The Lumia 950 and G V10 are […]

Smartphone cameras have been getting more and more powerful over the past few years, and the 2015 flagships are largely similar in terms of camera quality. Of course, what makes a great photo isn’t just about the megapixels, but also the sensor size, the aperture, processing algorithms and many other factors. The Lumia 950 and G V10 are two of this years smartphones that I had the pleasure of testing out during a slightly overlapping period, so I decided to try and put their cameras against each other to see who would come out on top.

Lumias are known for their great cameras thanks to Nokia’s imaging prowess and longtime partnership with ZEISS that stems all the way back to the days of the Nokia N90. The company blew our minds with the Lumia 1020 (and the 808 Pureview before it) and its 41MP camera. The Lumia 950 may not have as boastful a resolution, but it’s no slouch with its 20MP camera. It also has a larger sensor size and aperture, the latest OIS technology, and is accompanied by a much needed update to the camera software. LG has also stepped it up with their cameras, as you can see with the G4. It’s big brother, the LG V10 features the same camera module, with 16MP, OIS, and an f/1.8 aperture. It also has laser focus, which is meant to help the camera focus faster and better. Which camera faired better? Let’s see how they did.

Outdoor/daytime

The V10 (top) seemed to do a better job than the 950 with color accuracy in this photo, as the latter produced a slight yellow tint. On the other hand, the Lumia’s photo seems a bit sharper and detailed.

Similarly, the V10’s result in the top photo appears more true to life, and also wins out in sharpness (though not by much). The Lumia’s photo comes out more saturated, which makes everything pop. It’s really up to preference at this point, and in many instances I personally prefer the more saturated look, though that’s not always the case.

This time the V10 produced a softer photo, which makes the photo appear almost washed out when compared to the deeper blacks produced by the 950. Interestingly, I prefer the V10’s effect in this photo, as it’s much less harsh and produces a welcome glow.

This one’s a little hard for me because I like both photos for their respective strong points. The V10 captures the cool softness of the morning light, while the Lumia captures more warmth and detail. The Lumia also seemed much better at getting rid of that pesky lens flare.

In terms of daylight capture, the Lumia has proven its own and often produces much sharper more saturated images with darker blacks. But the V10 seems to want to stick to more true-to-life images, which are often cooler and softer. As I said, it’s really up to preference, but I feel like I prefer the V10’s photos in this category.

Indoor/medium light

This time the tides seemed to have turned, as the V10 produces a much more saturated photo, with super deep blacks, making the Galaxy S6 edge appear really glossy. The Lumia holds its own, but the result is a little too soft for my liking.

While the V10 once again produces darker shadows, the 950 bumps up the exposure while keeping much more of the pen in focus, opting for a much clearer photo and winning my vote.

Once more, the V10 opts for a cooler photo but at the expense of exposure and detail. The Lumia gives us some saturation and exposure, so we’re able to make out much more of the statue.

Both produce similar photos here, but the Lumia gives us deeper blacks as well as more detail.

Both phones fair well in indoor/medium lit settings. The V10, despite the laser focus and slightly larger aperture, seemed to produce less exposed and slightly unfocused shots, whereas the 950 was able to not only offer higher exposures but more detail as well. Lumia wins this round.

Low light/nighttime

The V10 had some trouble focusing, resulting in a less detailed and washed out photo. The Lumia on the other hand performed wonderfully, giving us detail and saturation while sufficiently illuminating the photo.

The Lumia practically kicked the LG’s butt in this low-light photo. The lower half nearly fades into the dark sky, whereas the Lumia clearly exposes the brick portion tower. The V10 also produces a whiter almost angelic glow while the Lumia warms up the photo nicely, with closer accuracy to the scene.

The V10 nicely illuminates my front porch while managing to produce as little noise as possible and keeping everything nice and detailed. The Lumia didn’t seem to focus well enough resulting in much loss of detail, but still managing to produce a nicely lit scene.

In low light, it’s somewhat of a mixed bag, with both the 950 and V10 performing fairly well. Mostly the V10 tends to have more trouble exposing a dark scene with the 950 usually able to produce a clear bright photo, but it’s not without its faults either.

Conclusion

The camera on the V10 was not my favorite and it felt somewhat like a step down from the G4 in terms of quality. Despite the laser focus unit and f/1.8 aperture, photos generally came out inadequately detailed, dark, and washed out. The Lumia 950 has largely impressed me for the most part, with better saturation, brighter low-light, and darker blacks where it matters. I would say that the Lumia wins this shootout, but not by much. As stated before, it’s really up to your personal preference on what you prefer in a photo.

Does LG’s super-premium phone live up to the hype? There seems to be a slowly growing trend of companies releasing higher-end versions of their flagship devices, like Sony did when releasing the Xperia Z Premium, and like what Motorola has done with the release of both the Droid Maxx 2 and Turbo 2. LG seemed to […]

Does LG’s super-premium phone live up to the hype?

There seems to be a slowly growing trend of companies releasing higher-end versions of their flagship devices, like Sony did when releasing the Xperia Z Premium, and like what Motorola has done with the release of both the Droid Maxx 2 and Turbo 2. LG seemed to want in on this new super-premium tier of devices, and has done so in a fairly stylish way. The V10 is the company’s highest specced device to date, and even though it’s not too far ahead of the G4, it’s still enough to give fans of the G4 something to drool over. Thanks to the guys over at AT&T, I was able to spend some time with the V10, and here are my thoughts on the device.

Specs:

5.7inch 1440p Quantum IPS LCD display

Secondary 2.1inch 160×1040

1.8 GHz 64-bit hexa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 808, Adreno 418

4GB RAM

32GB or 64GB storage, MicroSDXC expandable up to 2TB

3000mAh removable battery, Fast Charge 2.0

5MP dual front-facing camera, f/2.2 aperture, 80º or 120º wide-angle

Design

When I first played around with the LG G4, the first thing I noticed was how big it was. The 5.5 inch screen was bigger than any other phone I had ever used. Well the V10 changed all that, boasting a massive 5.7 inch quadHD Quantum IPS LDC display, practically marking it as a phablet. Many people have commented on the device, gawking at its size, and quite frankly I am among them. The screen size makes it very hard to use the device one handed, and the weight doesn’t help either. The V10 weighs a hefty 192g, quite a bit more than the “monstrous” Lumia 920 that everyone complained about.

That weight does come with the added bonus of a sturdy and stylish design. The device is wrapped in Dura-skin silicone body with a stainless steel hugging at the sides. This combination gives what some may consider the perfect balance between heft and style, and the studded back allows for more grip without compromising on looks.

As with its many predecessors, the V10 keeps the same with its rear-mounted power and volume buttons, adding to the clean look of the phone. On the back you’ll also find the 16MP camera (more on this later) with the LED flash and Laser Focus unit on both sites.

Hardware

The V10 is powered by the same 1.8 GHz 64-bit hexa-core Snapdragon 808 processor found on the G4. As a super-premium phone, you would expect LG to splurge for something a little higher, but alas the phone chugged away without fault, thanks in part to the bump in RAM to 4GB.

Beyond this we have 64GB of on-board storage (with a 32GB model also available), which is expandable to up to 2 theoretical TB thanks to the removable back cover that also exposes the removable 3000mAh battery. Fast Charge 2.0 is included, and fortunately LG decided to bundle a Fast Charger with the device, something that was omitted with the G4. Battery life is pretty good and I get a full day of usage out of it.

The speaker has been moved the lower back to the bottom of the device, so sound the sound was fairly loud and clear, though not as good as they would be had LG opted for front-facing speakers (a boy can dream).

Software

The LG V10 runs Android 5.1.1 “Lollipop” out of the box, with the company’s own UX 4.0. As noted with the G4, it runs super smoothly thanks to the the push for more RAM. Of course in addition to the multiple homescreens, LG’s own Smart Bulletin is present adding some extra smarts into an already smart phone, like automatically turn the WiFi off and on when I left or arrived home, respectively.

Double-tap to wake was also present, but seemed almost secondary to the new fingerprint scanner found on the home button. After using the one on the iPhone, it’s definitely something I’ve gotten more and more accustomed to. Unfortunately, after using the iPhone, I realized how cumbersome the V10’s fingerprint scanner was. Pressing the home button once was only enough to wake the device, requiring a second tap to get it unlocked. On the iPhone, one press of the home button was all I needed to both wake and unlock the device. It’s because of this that I stuck to using the on-screen unlock pattern half the time.

Aside from this, the software experience was pretty much the same here as it was on the G4… almost.

Second Screen

One standout feature for the V10 was the inclusion of a second screen, the first of it’s kind seen on a phone of this kind. Few phones have dabbled in this territory, but LG chose to go about it another way. Though it’s just as cumbersome a feature as the fingerprint scanner. Sitting at the very tip of the device, users are able to access a customizable set of applications, switch between open apps, and control music. It even lets users accept of decline calls, nicely keeping many of the notifications away from the main screen. It’s also always on, even when the phone is on standby. Unfortunately, its placement on such a large phone makes it pretty much impossible to use one-handed, and I hardly ever want to use it. Frankly, the second screen is as useful to the phone as it is noteworthy to this review… which isn’t much. My name at the top is a nice touch, though.

Camera

After the superb performance form the G4 camera, I was actually quite disappointed with the V10. It has the same 16MP rear shooter with an f/1.8 aperture, OIS, and laser focus. But really the photos don’t seem to compare, as they seemed either noisy or washed out, and the V10 seemed to have more trouble than its predecessor when it came to focusing. Largely the photos were pretty bland, and I didn’t find myself wanting to use it as often as the G4 as it seemed to take more effort to capture a decent photo. In good lighting conditions, the camera performed nicely, but that’s it. In low-light, it was pretty hit-or-miss.

Video was good, and the device is capable of shooting in 4K, though I stuck largely to 1080p. The OIS kept movements fairly smooth and it didn’t seem to have much trouble focusing for the most part.

The front-facing camera was another standout feature, as LG opted for a dual-camera module. This was in order to capture super-wide group selfies at 120º, as opposed to the V10’s standard 80º. The tradeoff of this was the lower 5MP resolution, down from 8MP on the G4, and it definitely showed. Selfies suffered from A LOT of noise, unless captured in the absolute most perfect lighting conditions. As an avid selfie taker, this made me miss the quality and detail from the G4’s camera. And while a group-selfie feature is cool, I would’ve preferred if LG kept the same camera module as I found myself wanting to use the selfie-camera even less than I wanted to use the rear camera… and that’s saying something.

The Verdict

All in all, the V10 is a great first attempt at a super-premium device, and LG has pretty much nailed it in the style department. The device is fast and responsive, and will definitely standout in a crowd. Unfortunately as such a large and heavy phone, the V10 just felt like a burden to use, and the extra features did very little to help its case as a phone G4 users should look forward to. My overall experience with the device was mixed with its fair share of pros and cons. The question now is whether or not the V10 is a phone for you?